Method of makign v-belts



Feb. 16, 1954 H. o. AUGUSTIN' METHOD OF' MAKING V BELTS Filed Nov. 8, 1951 INVENTOR. HAROLD O. AUGUSTIN 'ORNEY FIG.

Patented Feb. l16,V 1954 Ncurr-izo s TATES PATENT '-of-Ffisi cs 'METHOD OF'MAKING V-'BELTS Harold O. Augustin, Lincoln, Nebr.,fassgnor, 'by fmesne assignments, 4to The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, a corporationof Ohio Application November 8, 1951'Serial"No. 255348 7 Claims.

This invention relates -to a novel method of 'building power transmission belts. More particularly the invention pertains to an improved meth- 'od-l off building power transmission belts of trape- "zoidal fcross-section, commonly referred to as rV-belts. i1

This invention provides an improvement over 'the present methods of manufacturingYV-belts, inet only in yminimizing the required `handling 'during the fabricating processes but also in effecting asubstantial'reduction'in the quanti- 'ties of scrap or waste material produced bythe usual methods.

In .the past, vnumerous Ymethods have been yproposed for manufacturing V-belts but rela- "tively fewof these methods have vbeen adopted 'in commercial practices as the majority of them have not been ladaptable to mass production lof -Vffbe1ts Power transmission belts of the V-type usually -consistaoftwo basic elements, namelyfthe body portion and the envelope. The body portion, in yturn, has a compression section, a neutral axis section; andra tension section, The body of the fbelt is/generally fabricated from thevarious elefments into a composite structure whichis then enveloped with the bias-cut strip of square- -woven Afabric before vvulcanization. There are `several Well-known methods of fabricating a multiplicity of body portions simultaneously and @this invention-is particularly well adapted to be l.employed in fabricating V-belt bodies.

One ofthefmost widely used methods of fabrication-of the body portion of a V-'belt is to .laminate orply-up in the form of asleeve, `the various components or elements on a drum. -'5' Next, the sieeve iscut up into a plurality of end- .less strips to provide a Amultiplicity' of V-.belt bodies of trapezoidal cross-section. `Thisstepis generally referred to asthe trap cutting operation. compression section of unvulcanized rubber,v tension elements, insulating gum for the tension elements and, in some constructions, fabric as a reinforcing material. The V-belt bodies lthus formedv are then provided with a fabric envelope and vulcanized to. produce the nished belt.

'In the trap cutting operation, a Wedge- Shaped remnant of the sleeve having portions of the various elements is formed between the adjacent v-belt bodies. vInasmuch as this wedge is not suitable for use in that form, it is generally scrappedor salvagedv by separating. it into the, various elements for later reprocessing k'Iiither 'oit these steps necessarily afrectpmducvtion costs.

Eaich V-belt body usually includes the Another well-known method o'f building'V-belts comprises'building-'a sleeve ofthe elements forming kthe neutral axis portion of the belt on a ldrum and lcutting the sleeve into end-less bands Vofthe required width. The'V-belt body is then completed by removing the bands from the drum and applying the compression section of the belt to each of "the bands individually, the compression.sectiongenerallybeing an extruded strip of `unvulcanized rubber ofaxcross-section comparableto that ofthe iinished belt. The envelope is 'then'iapplied andthe belt vulcanized inthe usual manner.

This flatter method eliminates Ithe waste or vsalvage material but requires considerable han- Vdling-and-tirne` to apply the compression section to the belt. Itis'also very probable that the vcross-section of Ithe compression section will be non-uniform around 'fthe circumference of the belt -due-to normal handling during this portion 'of the building loperation.

-A-iurther objectief this .invention is to proyvidefa method of manufacturing V-belts in which the -V-belt bodies arey of a uniform cross section throughout their lengths.

A still further object of this invention is to providearmethod ofmanufacturing V-belts that can beradapted readily for 'use with the present equipment and methods.

lOther objectsand advantages of this invention 4will become. apparent hereinafter as the descriptionhereoiproceedsand thenovel features, rangements .and .combinations being clearly .pointed .out in the specication, as well as the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is Vanielevational view of the apparatus usedjinthe invention;

Fig.' 2` is an end view of' the'apparatus;

iI'ig. isanfenlarged sectional View taken along Fig. `4 is a vsectienalview ofthe. bodyportion AV1ig-...5 .is a sectional lview ofy a typical finished In the drawings the building. drumr l ismcunted 'cn shaft g2 z which is adapted .to be rotated by driving means '('not'show). "The sleeve o'r composite 3 is fabricated on the drum I according to the usual practices and, for example, may include a layer 4 of insulating gum on which the tension elements 5 are helically wound. The tension elements 5 may be of any desired material such `as Wire, cotton, rayon, nylon, or any other similar material.

If desired, another layer B of insulating gum may be applied to the tension elements 5 before the compression layer l, preferably of unvulcanized rubber, is applied to form the composite 3. Generally the compression layer 'I is formed by applying a sufcient number of layers of calendered sheets of rubber to produce the required thickness.

In the practice of the invention, the volume of layers 'I as applied shall be substantially equal to the total volume of the compression sections of the bodies of the belts formed by the sleeve. As a result, the outside'diameter of the sleeve is slightly less than the diameter of the formed belt to allow for the outward movement of the compression layer I during the reshaping operation as explained below. If desired, the various elements making up the sleeve may be rolled or stitched together to eliminate trapped air before further steps are taken.

After the sleeve or composite 3 is formed, a forming roll 8 rotatably mounted on shaft 9 and having a peripheral groove of a cross-section comparable in shape and size to that on the V- belt body, or of any other desired shape and size that may be determined, is brought into contact with and pressed against the sleeves. As the drum 3 is rotated slowly, to rotate by frictional contact and reshape the compression layer I to conform to the shape of the surface of the roll 8 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The forming roll 8, as shown, contains only one groove but may be made to include any num- Q ber of grooves if desired so that a comparable number of V-belt bodies will be formed simultaneously.

According to the method of the invention shown and described herein, after one portion of the compression layer 1 is reshaped, the roll 8 is moved axially along the drum until the edge of the roll coincides with the bottom of the adjacent, previously formed groove and then the roll is again forced into the compression layer 'I and the drum I and roll 8 rotated to form another V-belt body. This is repeated across the entire length of the sleeve so that a series of V-belt bodies are formed, providing a corrugated appearance to the surface of the sleeve, each corrugation being a V-belt body. In the forming operation, the compression section of substantially rectangular cross-section is reshaped to a substantially trapezoidal cross-section comparable to that of the finished belt but slightly smaller in size so as to allow for thickness of the envelope fabric.

The unvulcanized rubber used to form the compression section of the belt in many instances is somewhat resilient, even though it is unvulcanized, so that it is desirable that this resiliency be killed in order that it will retain its shape after forming and not tend to return to its original shape. One method of accomplishing this is to heat the unvulcanized rubber to a temperature preferably below the point at which vulcanization takes place but one at which the rubber is softened so that it is easily and permanently reshaped. A temperature 'of 1,50*? F.

the roll 8 is caused CII has been found to be satisfactory for this purpose.

Infra-red heat has been found to be a very quick, efficient method of heating the compression layer 'I to the desired temperature before reshaping and the bank I0 of infra-red lights is mounted adjacent the building drum I so that the heat from the lights will be directed against the sleeve and it is only necessary to rotate the drum slowly to heat the entire compression section 1 to the desired temperature. Other suit- -able means may be used to heat the sleeve before reshaping such, for example, as placing the drum and sleeve in a heated oven for a period of time sufficient to induce heat in the sleeve to the desired temperature before the shaping operation.

After the compression section of the sleeve 3 has been reshaped, the sleeve is then severed at the bottom of each corrugation, as indicated by the straight line II in Fig. 3 to provide a series of V-belt bodies I2 having a cross-section similar to that illustrated in Fig. 4.

Another method of practicing the invention is to prepare the sleeve or composite 3 by fabricating on a drum a first sleeve of the elements of the neutral axis section which may include, for example, the layer of insulating gum il, the tension elements 5 and the layer of insulating gum B. The compression layer of unvulcanized rubber is separately built up as a second sleeve on another drum and then reshaped to provide a series of corrugations of the desired cross-section, size and shape as previously described. The second sleeve is then applied over the lirst sleeve to form the composite 3 and, if desired, a, cement or adhesive to increase the adhesion between the rst sleeve and the second sleeve may be applied to the surface of the first sleeve before the second sleeve is placed in position. The composite 3 then is severed at the bottom of each corrugation to provide a series of V-belt bodies I2.

The bodies I2 are removed from the drum and the fabric envelope I3 is then applied according to any of the well-known methods. The enveloped belt is then subjected to heat and pressure according to any of the well-known practices to vulcanize the rubber and unite the various parts of the belt into a component structure.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that Various changes and modifications may be made therein Without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. In the method of manufacturing the body portion of a V-belt including the steps of forming a sleeve incorporating several essential components of the belt including the tension elements and the compression portion of unvulcanized rubber which eliminates the waste normally encountered in cutting V-belt bodies from said sleeve, said method comprising reshaping the compression portion into a multiplicity of mutually parallel corrugations of a cross-section approximating that of the belt, and severing the sleeve at the bottom of said corrugations to produce a multiplicity of V-belt body portions.

2. In the method of manufacturing the body portion of aV-belt including the steps of forming a sleeve incorporating 'several essential'` components of the belt including the tension elements and the compression portion of unvulcanized rubber which eliminates the waste normally encountered in cutting V-belt bodies from said sleeve, said method comprising substantially uniformly heating at a temperature less than the vulcanization temperature the compression portion to kill the resilience of said compression portion, reshaping the compression portion into a multiplicity of mutually parallel corrugations of a cross-section approximating that of the belt, and severing the sleeve at the bottom of said corrugations to produce a multiplicity of V-belt body portions.

3. In the method of manufacturing the body portion of a V-belt including the steps of forming a sleeve incorporating several essential components of the belt including the tension elements and the compression portion of unvulcanized rubber which eliminates the waste normally encountered in cutting V-belt bodies from said sleeve, said method comprising substantially uniformly heating the compression member to approximately 150 F., reshaping the compression portion into a, multiplicity of mutually parallel corrugations of a cross-section approximating that of the belt, and severing the sleeve at the bottom of said corrugations to produce a multiplicity of V-belt body portions.

4. In the method of manufacturing the body portion of a V-belt including the steps of forming a sleeve incorporating several essential components of the lbelt including the tension elements and the compression portion of unvulcanized rubber which eliminates the Waste normally encountered in cutting V-belt bodies from said sleeve,

mately 150 ing the compression of mutually parallel :Finished belt, severing the sleeve at the bottom of said corrugations to produce a multiplicity of V-belt body portions, applying the fabric envelope to said body portions and subjecting the enveloped bodies to heat and pressure to unite the component parts of the belt into an integral structure and vulcanize the rubber.

6. In the method of manufacturing V-belts having a body portion including the steps of forming a sleeve incorporating several essential components of the belt including a neutral axis section with the tension elements contained therein and a compression section of a layer of unvulcanized rubber Wliich eliminates the Waste normally encountered in cutting the V-belt bodies from said sleeve, said method comprising forming a first sleeve of the elements of the neutral axis portion of the belt body including the tension elements, separately forming a second sleeve of unvulcanized rubber, reshaping the second sleeve into a multiplicity of mutually parallel corrugations, applying said reshaped second sleeve over said rst sleeve to form a composite, and severing said composite at the bottom of the corrugations to produce a multiplicity of V-belt body portions.

7. In the method of manufacturing V-belts having a .body portion including the steps of forming a sleeve incorporating several essential components of the belt including a neutral axis section With the tension elements contained therein and -a compression section of a layer of unvulcanized rubber which eliminates the waste normally encountered in cutting the V-belt bodies from said sleeve, said method comprising forming a first sleeve of the elements of the neutral axis portion of the belt body including the tension elements, separately forming a second sleeve of unvulcanized rubber, reshaping the second sleeve into a multiplicity of mutually parallel corrugations, applying an adhesive to the exposed surface of said rst sleeve, applying said reshaped second sleeve over said first sleeve to form a composite, and severing said composite at the bottom of the corrugations to produce a multiplicity of V-belt body portions.

HAROLD O. AUGUSTIN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

